Traveling with a child requires accessories such as a car seat and a carriage which perform several important functions. A car seat is necessary for safely transporting the child in a vehicle. After arriving at a destination, the child must be removed from the vehicle and brought along with the parent. A carriage provides easy and convenient transportation for the child.
Presently, there are few devices which can function both as a car seat and as a carriage. There are even fewer devices which enable the child to remain within the carriage during conversion from a car seat to a carriage and back to a car seat.
One convertible carriage is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,959, by Kip Van Steenburg. This carriage allows the operator to move the wheels concurrently between an extended position in which the device serves as a stroller and a retracted position in which a car seat is achieved. However, the wheels must be moved manually into the retracted position. During retraction, leg members supporting the wheels are unlocked and the carriage descends to the ground. Thereafter, the operator must forcibly lift a cross member, which interconnects the rear leg members, with her foot to complete the retraction of the wheels. The cross member is typically lifted with the upper portion of the toe which can scrape and mar the shoe.